Your surveyor is quite wrong. I have installed a number of fixed mount inverters ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 watts or so and the installations require nothing exotic, just the correct size of wire and fuse. A skilled marine electrician will do these installations correctly as a routine matter. It is large portable inverters that are dangerous. A jumper cable clamp is not a safe way to carry 100 amps for very long and few to none of these setups will have correct fusing on either the AC or DC side.
I have permanently installed 300 and 1200 watt inverters on my boat. I usually have the 300 watt unit switched on for charging phones, radios, and computers. I can throw a switch and use the 1200 watt unit for tools, hair dryers, the shop-vac, or any other large load. It draws about .9 amps at idle so I don’t use it routinely. I bought a hydraulic wire crimper from Harbor Freight to get all the battery cable crimps done right and it was an easy job making up all the wiring. I got a Kisae auto-switch from West to switch the outlets over from shore power to inverter when the shore power is turned off and then back again when it comes on. As for 12 volt appliances, most of them are much more expensive than the 120 volt version and by definition cannot be more efficient if they have the same power (except for inverter loses). I did discover that my little Dirt Devil 120 volt vacuum is WAY more powerful than a 12 volt car vacuum. It does use more power, but gets the dirt the first pass, not after 5 passes, so it evens out in the end. Joe Della Barba j...@dellabarba.com <mailto:j...@dellabarba.com> Coquina C&C 35 MK I From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Josh Muckley via CnC-List Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2015 9:34 AM To: C&C List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Josh Muckley <muckl...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Venetian parade A clamp on inverter is temporary and more powerful than a cigarette lighter inverter but still considerably less powerful than a permanent installation type. It has jumper cable clamps for attaching to the battery studs. The following is just one example. BESTEK 2 AC Outlets 1000W Power Inverter with Battery Clamps and Car Cigarette Lighter Plug https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SLDDHQ/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_NGwDwbG6XRHSP To my surprise, my marine surveyor actually advised against permanent installation style inverters. He explained that a typical 2000w inverter can draw so much current that a "proper" and safe install is challenging. He had apparently seen quite a few fires as a result of bad inverters or poor installations (inadequate conductor size, insufficient cooling, too small of a battery bank). He advised that most appliances can be found in 12v variants and are more efficient. If/when the occasional need (xmas lights) for 120v presents itself a clamp-on is what he recommended. Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Dec 19, 2015 8:30 AM, "William Walker via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: What is a clamp on inverter? Bill Walker Sent from AOL Mobile Mail _____ On Friday, December 18, 2015 Josh Muckley via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: Cigarette lighter inverter should be able to power a good number of LED strings. A clamp on inverter would be an even better guarantee of sufficient power. Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Dec 18, 2015 10:08 PM, "William Walker via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: I would love to hear ideas for lighting the boat for Venetian parades. LED? Can I use Christmas lights that are on sale? No generator on board. Bill Walker CnC 36 Sent from AOL Mobile Mail _______________________________________________ Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com <mailto:CnC-List@cnc-list.com> To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com <mailto:CnC-List@cnc-list.com> To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com <mailto:CnC-List@cnc-list.com> To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
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